Active Moms’ Club just wrapped up Fit & Fab’s 60-Day Fitness Challenge. The Challenge – our most successful group goal-based program – began in September with 19 motivated mamas eager to get their body back after baby. I’m incredibly proud of these women. They are stronger, leaner, and more fit in just eight short weeks. The camaraderie they shared with one another during training session was inspiring. Combined, they lost over 60 pounds and inches from their waist lines. Their new strength allows them to better handle the physical demands of parenthood. Strong is the new sexy!

The Fitness Challenges are all apart of Fit & Fab’s Small Group Postnatal Training program. It was our third Fitness Challenge in 2014 (see the results of our summertime challenge and winter challenge). Fit & Fab training provides high-intensity, interval-based exercises (HIIT) that deliver results and foster camaraderie and motivation through a small group setting. In this Challenge, the women worked out with AMC and on their own.

60-Day Fitness Challenge

The women in the Challenge have children of various ages, from three months old to five years old. All of the moms had a personal fitness goal to achieve over the course of eight weeks. Their goals varied from increasing upper body strength, losing 10 pounds, fitting into their favorite jeans, to making weekly workouts part of their routine. And I’m delighted to say, success is being enjoyed by ALL!

The Challenge commenced with each mom completing a fitness assessment consisting of six exercises. After eight weeks of working out with AMC, and on their own, the women completed the same assessment to measure their overall strength and fitness. Their results were astonishing! Every mom gave 110% during training and for the assessments. One motivated mom of two achieved her weight loss goal and lost 11 pounds, a few moms increased their overall strength and doubled the amount of push-ups she could do in 30 seconds. Doubled! That’s impressive.

FITNESS CHALLENGE WINNERS

I’m thrilled to announce Rebecca Brokmeier and Angela Johnson are the overall/grand prize winners of the Challenge with the greatest overall increase in strength at the end of 60 days. Both women excelled in most of the fitness assessment categories. Rebecca improved the duration of her wall sit by over FOUR MINUTES, and just about doubled her repetitions for single leg squats. As an alumni Challenger, Angela completed 24 FULL push-ups from her toes (with perfect form!), and held onto her wall sit 3:31 seconds longer with a 25 pound weight resting on her thighs.

BEFORE & AFTER PICTURES

“I never thought I’d feel stronger and slimmer 10 months after giving birth than I did before pregnancy. I have AMC’s prenatal and postnatal programs to thank for that! I’m committed now to continue building strength and taking care of my body. Coach Cassandra helped me find the time, keep me on track and motivated.”

“I’m really happy with the results from the past eight weeks, and I so enjoyed the Challenge. It felt really good to have my inner athlete come back out; I’m motivated to get back to running and thinking about doing a half marathon again, so thank you! I’m going to do another eight week challenge for myself (holiday dresses to fit into!) and definitely will keep up with my pushups. Just yesterday I was carrying my 19 pound son in one arm and two bags of groceries in the other arm, walking up the stairs, and it was a piece of cake thanks to my new strength.”

“I couldn’t do these type of workouts on my own. It’s motivating to work harder in a group setting. I love how I feel after a training session.”

Cumulative results from past two Fitness Challenges

Notice in each November photograph the women’s improved posture. They are standing taller, have more engaged upper back and abdominal muscles, and less exaggerated “S” curve in their spine. This translates into less back aches and pains, a common complaint of motherhood. They also have reduced inches from their waistlines and re-shaped their bodies. These svelte new bodies are a direct result of consistent strength training exercises they have been practicing with AMC. These pictures speak volumes. Diet alone will not do it, strength training is necessary to change the shape of your body and to be stronger to take on parenthood.

Don’t wait to get your body back AFTER baby, you can start an appropriate level functional training routine during pregnancy to build strength for labor and to help alleviate common pregnancy discomforts. The added benefit of prenatal exercise – you’re body will bounce back quicker after pregnancy.

Active Moms’ Club Fit & Fab 60-Day Fitness Challenge – our most successful group goal-based program – has 20 strong-willed mamas working their butts off to be stronger, fitter, slimmer and healthier. There is no doubt, our mamas are dedicated to get their body back after baby.

The 60-day challenge kicked-off on September 6th and is now half way through. Every mom in the Challenge has a personal fitness goal: lose weight, fit into a favorite pair of jeans, be more active, increase overall strength. Additionally, they each completed a six exercise fitness assessment that will be retested at the end of 60 days. The Challenge is designed to help moms achieve measurable increases in strength, which will help increase metabolism and torch body fat. Every training session provides high-intensity, interval-based exercises that provide maximum calorie burn and is proving to reduce inches from their waistline.

Combined, the women in the Challenge have already shed over 25 pounds and are motivated to reach their personal fitness goals. Their motivation is intrinsic but also powered by incredible prizes provided by AMC sponsors. Thank you Athleta, Noktivo Salon, Kgrace Childcare, Kind Snacks, Abeille Beauty and Handy for your generous donations valuing over $1000.

I can’t wait to share ‘before and after’ pictures of our successful members. I’m incredibly proud of every mom who makes the time to take care of herself. A healthy mom has a happy and healthy family. Bravo mamas!

Stay tuned for more details about our winners, and the next Challenge coming in January 2015. Be a part of our supportive community, visit ActiveMomsClub.com to learn more about our prenatal and postnatal training programs.

Not many of my clients don’t enjoy doing push-ups, I hear a lot of grumbles when I prescribe them during a prenatal or postnatal workout. Sure moms roll their eyes, but they do them because I ask. Now I’m asking you to do them on your own with AMC’s inaugural Push-Up Challenge. Beginning October 1st, I challenge you to complete 10 push-ups everyday for the month of October. Make it a family affair for additional accountability and fun; ask your spouse and kids to participate in the challenge with you!

TOP 5 HEALTH BENEFITS OF PUSH-UPS

Push-ups build muscles! You need muscles for parenthood. It’s easy to lift an eight pound infant, but that infant is going to grow fast and soon you’ll be lifting – if you aren’t already – a 25-50 pound toddler. And if you’re pregnant the demand on your core muscles is just as great, and as important, to keep strong to power through labor.

It’s an exercise that multi-tasks and takes minimum time. Parents are all about multi-tasking. Push-ups work out a number of different muscles simultaneously (triceps, biceps, deltoids, lower back, abs, chest, and quadricep muscles) and produce functional strength. Do as many push-ups as you can today – with good form, of course – and see which muscles hurt tomorrow. I promise it will be more than one.

Modified push-ups are as effective as a full push-up from your toes. Everyone has to start somewhere. Begin with modified push-ups from your knees and practice until you can complete 15-20 with good form. Once you conquered 20 modified push-ups, progress to a full push-up from toes. Build up to 10 full push-ups. Be consistent and you’ll be rockin’ them out in no time, and now you’ve got some bragging rights mama!

Push-ups build strong abs. It’s a effective exercise to build core strength and upper body strength. Did you know the act of a push-up demands as much strength from your abs and hip muscles as upper body muscles? Start pumping for stronger abs, crunches are so 1980.

Lose weight. Exercise is an essential component to lose weight. Push-ups are a form of exercise. The added bonus of push-ups is that they build muscles, which increases your metabolism, making you burn more fat.

Join AMC’s Push-Up Challenge! Complete 10 push-ups, every day, anywhere. If you miss a day, make-up up the 10 push-ups the next day. It will take LESS THAN ONE MINUTE a day to do the Challenge, there are really no excuses! The goal is to complete 310 push-ups in October. Push it out and reap the rewards – get stronger and more fit!

AMC’s Fit & Fab 60-Day Summertime Shape-Up Fitness Challenge wrapped up at the end of June. There were 20 women who rocked the Challenge and ALL of them reaped the rewards of their hard work. I’m incredibly proud of these slender and strong mamas, and the camaraderie they shared among one another during their training sessions.

The women in the Challenge have children of various ages, from four months old to six years old. All of the moms had a personal fitness goal to achieve over the course eight weeks. Their goals varied from increasing upper body strength, toning their buttocks, fitting into their favorite skirt, to making weekly workouts part of their routine. And I’m delighted to say, success is being enjoyed by ALL!

The Challenge commenced with each mom completing a fitness assessment consisting of seven exercises. After eight weeks of working out with AMC, and on their own, the women completed the same assessment to measure their overall strength and fitness. Their results blew me away. Some of these mamas increased their strength by more than 50 percent! Impressive. One driven mom lost 15 pounds, three others lost over five pounds each, and another mom can now boast that she rock out 15 push-ups!

Thanks to our sponsors, moms participating in the Challenge had the opportunity to earn a family photo session from KH Photography to further document her success, and each received a box of KIND Snack Healthy Grain granola bars. Plus the winner of the Challenge will receive a free 8×10 from the photo shoot.

I’m thrilled to announce Angela Johnson is the overall WINNER of the Fitness Challenge! Through her hard work, Angela achieved the greatest improvement in the majority of the exercise categories of the fitness assessment. Angela completed 28 push-ups in 30 seconds, held a plank for four minutes, and a wall sit for six and a half minutes. She is STRONG!

“I have to say I felt I did really well at the first assessment and thought it would be a big challenge for me to improve, so I’m very happy. I definitely feel a difference in my body and people at work have made comments that I look thinner. My clothes were starting to feel big so I went to buy a smaller size and I actually went down two pant sizes which really surprised me since my weight on the scale has not moved much.” Bravo!Angela has a 20-month old daughter and is an avid golfer. “I’m definitely hitting my drives much longer which is great because I win longest drive when that is the game of the week!”

Delaney is the runner-up winner of the Challenge. Her fabulous success is also proof that the numbers on the scale don’t tell the whole story. How much weight do you think she has lost in eight weeks?

Her personal fitness goal for the Challenge is to be able to complete a Chaturanga yoga pose with integrity. She is almost there! During the first assessment Delaney completed seven quality push-ups and held a forearm plank for 75 seconds. At the end of the Challenge she pumped out 19 push-ups and held a plank for four minutes! Strong. Strong. Mama.

Congratulations Angela and Delaney – and to all the AMC moms who participated in the Challenge! I look forward to continue to help you get stronger, more fit, and more fabulous than you already are!

“I really enjoyed the fitness assessment of the Challenge. It was the first time I’ve done an assessment like this and I absolutely love seeing how much my body has changed and how much stronger I am in just eight weeks. It’s motivation to keep going.”

“I really love training outdoors when the weather is nice. It’s a great way to start a Saturday or end a workday.”

“It’s fun to have the camaraderie of the other women during training. To see how hard they push themselves, and it makes me want to keep up and push myself. I look forward to training every week and seeing the same women. I couldn’t do these types of workouts on my own.”

Are you ready to get your body back after baby or simply up your fitness level to new heights? AMC’s Fit & Fab 60-Day Challenge – our most successful group, goal-based program – is returning September 6, 2014. Stay tuned for more details and how to register!

Active Moms’ Club 3rd Annual Weight Loss Challenge was a huge success! The Challenge began in January and wrapped up at the end of March – 12 weeks of workouts and accountability to help 18 eager moms get their body back after baby. Combined, the women lost over 70 pounds, and four women lost more than 10 pounds each!

The Weight Loss Challenge is part of the Fit & Fab Small Group Training program. Fit & Fab provides high-intensity, interval-based exercises that deliver results and foster camaraderie and motivation through the group setting. In this Challenge, the women worked out with AMC and on their own. They also were held accountable with weekly weigh-ins, and received email support for additional motivation for their journey.

Congratulations to Amy, the winner of the Challenge! She shed the greatest percentage of body weight, 9.7 percent, to claim the title. I’m proud to say Amy is an exemplary AMC mom. She started working out with AMC when she was 8 weeks pregnant participating weekly in Small Group Prenatal Fitness, returned with newborn Celia (born August 2013) for “From the Core: Postnatal Recovery” program, and progressed to Fit & Fab group workouts. Her transformation is no surprise given her focus and drive to succeed, and she admits, she became a little competitive at the end.

“Cassandra really taught me to take the long view and be patient. A part of me expected to be back to my old self at 12 weeks (now 8 months postpartum). Cassandra’s experience, with other new moms and her own, helped me be more realistic. There were days I felt I’d never feel like myself again, and weeks when I gained a pound or two back, and she was steady with her encouragement and challenging workouts. Those workouts made a huge difference!”

Nursing And Weight Loss

Amy is still nursing her daughter, so I asked her to share how she was able to lose weight and nurse successfully – a combination that can be a difficult task. “Celia is now 8 months, and I started to introduce solids at 6 months (one month into the Challenge). I nurse a little less as we’ve been increasing her solid meals, but still 3-4 times a day. There were times I felt my milk supply lessen, and usually it was a combination of not staying hydrated, not eating enough protein, and not getting enough calories overall. Sometimes, especially when I was overtired, I would crave carbs and end up snacking all day. Drinking water, eating high protein, high fiber meals, and eating healthy snacks helped, and I always had a bar of chocolate in the cupboard!”

I’m proud of all our fabulous mamas who participated. Everyone worked really hard, and the results are the proof.

Introducing Summertime Shape-Up Fitness Challenge

The camaraderie of Fit & Fab’s group workouts demonstrates how powerful support is for success, which is why we’re rolling out AMC’s brand NEW 60-Day Summertime Shape-up Fitness Challenge! It begins May 1 and runs through June 30 – eight weeks of fitness that will take the guesswork out of slimming down in time for the summer season. Everyone who participates will enjoy a strong, toned new body, the joy and satisfaction of being fit and confident about donning their summer wardrobe, and the motivation and camaraderie that comes will all AMC programs!